Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - retirement after the French Open
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will end his career after the French Open 2022. The 36-year-old Frenchman announced this on Wednesday.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Apr 06, 2022, 10:14 pm

There was a time in tennis - and it wasn't that long ago - when Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray shared the big tour titles among themselves. One was always there in the 1000s, in the majors anyway. Only very rarely were a few other players allowed to nibble on the honey pots during this phase. Stan Wawrinka was one of them in Monte-Carlos 2014.
It is all the more remarkable that Jo-Wilfried wrote to Tsonga twice: in 2008 at the home tournament in Paris-Bercy, and then again in 2014 in Toronto, where Tsonga defeated Roger Federer in the final. In the end, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won 18 titles, and it is unlikely that another one will be added in the coming weeks. Because the 36-year-old Frenchman will not get many more opportunities: As he announced on Wednesday, Tsonga will end his career after the French Open.
Tsonga can't end French drought either
In all his championships, however, participation in the final must be considered Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's greatest individual success: in 2008 he stormed into the final with grandiose attacking tennis against Rafael Nadal, but lost there to Novak Djokovic. Tsonga should never come that close to a major triumph again. And like his contemporaries Gael Monfils or Richard Gasquet, he couldn't end the long French dry spell since Yannick Noah's French Open victory in 1983.
This year, Tsonga, who has climbed to fifth as his highest-ranked world ranking, has won just two tour-level games. The announcement of the end of his career comes as no surprise. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will certainly not be bored without professional tennis: after all, he now has two sons who keep him on his toes.